ABBA - The Album was first released in Sweden on December 12, 1977. Recording sessions began in May 1977 and continued until November 1977.

On their fifth album, ABBA showed a new sense of ambition: longer tracks, more complex structures, and lyrics that aspired to be more than just words that fitted the melody.

Alongside hit singles like 'The Name Of The Game' and 'Take A Chance On Me', the album offered three songs from ABBA's mini-musical, The Girl With The Golden Hair. One of them was 'Thank You For The Music', one of ABBA's most well-known songs but actually never a big hit single.

ABBA - The Album was issued in conjunction with the cinema release ABBA - The Movie. Several of the songs on the album were also featured in the film.